colour-index.com

What It Is

Colour Index Online is an online subscription database for the dyes, pigments, and solvent dyes industries, published under systems associated with SDC and AATCC and currently managed by SDC Enterprises. Its core purpose is not as a general-purpose SaaS office tool, but as an authoritative industry classification and product index system that identifies colorants using Colour Index Generic Names and Colour Index Constitution Numbers.

Core Features and Data Coverage

The platform describes colorants by application category and chemical class, covering approximately 27,000 individual products and 13,000 Colour Index Generic Names. Each product entry may include the manufacturer, physical form, main applications, and manufacturer-provided descriptions. Part 1 covers pigments and solvent dyes, making it relevant to industries such as coatings, plastics, and inks. Part 2 covers dye categories including acid, basic, direct, disperse, food, reactive, sulfur, and vat dyes. Manufacturers can also register themselves and their products to obtain the authorization basis for using Colour Index names and numbers in sales materials or on their websites.

Pricing and Collaboration

Pricing is transparent and based on annual subscriptions: Part 1 or Part 2 is £280/year plus £37/user; Full Access is £425/year plus £37/user; the university edition is £425/year plus £7/user. The platform supports joining an existing organization: users can register via an invitation code or submit the organization administrator’s email and wait for approval. The main site does not disclose details about a free plan, trial, payment methods, invoicing, or procurement processes.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are strong industry authority, a standardized classification system, and coverage of manufacturer and product information, making it suitable for R&D, procurement, compliance, testing, and academic citation. The lower per-user cost for university users also makes it convenient for teaching and research. Its limitations lie in the relatively limited disclosure of enterprise software capabilities: there is no visible information on APIs, bulk data access, third-party integrations, SSO, granular permissions, security compliance, or data residency. As a result, it feels more like a professional reference database than a PaaS/SaaS platform that can be deeply embedded into enterprise workflows.

Who It Is For and Access from China

It is suitable for companies in textiles, coatings, plastics, and inks, as well as dye and pigment manufacturers, testing organizations, libraries, regulators, and university researchers. The main site does not specify access conditions from China, so network connectivity and payment convenience should be tested before procurement. If access or payment is restricted, domestic chemical materials databases, industry association repositories, or internal supplier master data solutions can also be evaluated as supplementary options.